By IANS
New Delhi : Sports Authority of India (SAI) secretary B.K. Sinha, who was relieved of his duties Tuesday, has termed his repatriation as "illegal" and denied charges of misappropriation of funds against him.
"The order of my repatriation signed by SAI director general Rattan Prakash Watel is illegal as he has no powers to do so," Sinha told IANS.
Watel signed the order on instructions from the sports ministry and passed on the file to SAI director (personnel) Mukesh Kumar who signed and conveyed the order to Sinha Tuesday.
But Sinha, a Haryana cadre Indian Police Service officer of the 1986 batch on deputation to SAI since 2004, claimed that even the sports ministry did not have the powers to pass such an order.
"Even the sports ministry does not have the power to order my repatriation. Only DOPT (department of personnel and training) can give such an order," claimed Sinha.
Asked why he was not taking up the issue when the order was illegal, Sinha said that he was weighing his options.
"I am thinking what I should do. I am consulting my family on this and will take a step after that," he said.
Some of Sinha's colleagues in SAI have said that he is facing a probe for alleged misappropriation of funds, but he denied that any such probe was going on.
"There is no inquiry against me. Watel did not give me any work for the last six months. He has behaved in an unprecedented manner," Sinha said.
But Sinha's colleagues pointed out that there were inquiries pending, in the purchase of pole-vault poles and on complaints from his staff.
Watel couldn't be reached for his comments.
SAI executive director – finance and personnel – Jhanja Tripathy confirmed that Sinha was without work.
Asked if the preparations for the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games would be affected by Sinha's sudden removal, Tripathy said: "He was not involved in any decision-making processes."
As per rules, Sinha cannot go to his Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium office from Wednesday, but he gave a different reason. "If I go to office I fear anyone can manhandle me," he said.